Tag: ls

InZanity is a build by fabricator/artist/magician, Kyle Kuhnhausen. No stone has been left unturned, with pretty much every part hand fabbed by the man himself, with styling inspiration from Rampage Camaro. An LSx nestled between the braced and dimple-died engine bay ensures this Z will be as fast as it looks, and it looks damn fast. Calling this build “detailed” is selling it way short, so make sure you check it out for yourself and peep what an untold amount of man-hours and skill can do to a car.

Firstly, I feel I need to apologise for the amount of LSx builds on the front page, as I generally like to aim for a bit of variety on the site. But hey, if people keep stuffing them into cars in interesting ways, I have to keep featuring them! This one is a bit more than just an engine swap, though, because the owner has transplanted a lot of the underpinnings of a Z06Corvette into his unsuspecting Triumph TR6. The most significant part of this build is that we learn the owner and builder is actually wheelchair bound, yet this proves no boundary to him as his enthusiasm and dedication to his car shines through, making the most of his situation and enjoying his passion to the fullest. So next time you’re feeling lazy or making excuses about your own project, have a read of this thread. My hat is tipped to you, Sir.

Ahh, the humble LSx swap. Some people might think that LS-swaps are overdone, played out, or whatever your buzzword of choice is. But I guess if you provide a range of compact, affordable, reliable, and easy to tune engines, people are going to use them! Personally, I’m all for them, they look great and appear more than willing to accept power additions, either naturally or artificially aspirated. The LSx in this build is being used to power an E36BMW, and while the swap itself is interesting enough, it was a small detail of the build that drew me in, and by small I mean one little accelerator bracket. Yep, that’s all it takes! It’s a small part but it was done so neatly that it gave me a feel for the rest of the build and made me want to read more, and I was rewarded with a whole lot of attention to detail.

I always love when an Australian car shows up in my inbox, I have a soft spot for our local product (even though our industry has all but shut down), and I even owned a Commodore some years ago. This particular piece of Aussie machinery is a VR Holden Commodore of the HSV variety, HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) being Holden’s tuning arm, much like AMG is to Mercedes. For the international readers, you can read up on HSV here.

What I love about this car is the incredible attention to detail and the no-expense-spared attitude given to the build, it’s not often you see these cars receiving this type of attention. If the details don’t get you, I’m sure the bright orange LSX motor with individual throttle bodies will melt your eyeballs and warm your soul. Another really neat touch is the rear wheels, they’re CNC machined to look exactly like the factory cast alloys, except much wider. It’s a subtle touch, but speaks volumes of the owners taste direction with the car.

Thanks to Ismail for submitting. Click here for more builds of Australian cars.

Every now and then I’ll waffle on about what makes a good build thread. My list of requirements usually includes nice photography, good writing, quality modifications, and the ability to tell a story. Well this is one of those threads, and I can always tell when I really like one because reading it isn’t a chore, it’s a pleasure that I never want to end, no matter how many pages I click through. The owner, Brandon, says goodbye to his very clean M52 turbo powered E34 525i and then sets out to build a manual LSX powered E39 wagon, documenting the build with images that look like they’ve been plucked straight out of a catalogue. When you see his collection of previous rides, you realise he’s one of those people who have a kind of midas touch when it comes to cars, knowing how to show restraint and refine a car with carefully chosen improvements, no matter what the make, model or era.

Thanks to Pearson for submitting. Click here for more BMW builds, or here for more engine conversions.

One of my favourite websites, MotoIQ, has just finished up one of their staff builds, Project V8 RX7. As it’s title suggests, it’s a Mazda RX7 receiving a V8 engine transplant, an California Smog-Legal E-Rod LS3 to be precise. The build is documented in trademark MotoIQ style (more signal, less noise) so head below to check out the build.

In the past I’ve seen plenty of pictures of NA MX5’s with their windscreens chopped off, hurling around a race track with a minimal amount of metal left on the car in the interests of faster lap times. But I have to say, this would be the first time I’ve seen the same treatment being given to a newer, NC model MX5. Not only has it been put on a healthy weight loss program, it also now has an LS3 V8 sitting in front of the lucky driver, new custom front and rear subframes, plus a whole lot of other stuff you should definitely check out below.

I saw a video of this beastly creation a couple of weeks ago and the first thing that struck me about it was the appearance of the car without it’s rear bodywork. I love how the builder has almost created the car in a ute/pickup fashion, making the bodywork rear of the b-pillar detachable for easy access to the rear section of the chassis and driveline. To my delight, a Latvian reader submitted a link which showcases the build of this unique BMW (or what’s left of it), read on for more details…

Attention tech-heads, here’s one for you. If you like CAD drawings, stress-tests, loading simulations, suspension pickup point design, and a whole bunch of other stuff that’s way over my head, then you’ll enjoy this build. This is one mans quest to design and build his own mid-mounted turbo LS1 powered track car over in Germany, reminding me a bit of the previously featured Bentley Speed 8 replica build.

What happens when you work for a major car magazine and share a fully equipped communal garage with your sister titles? You build a badass car, that’s what. Fresh black paint, OEM aero, all the good bits underneath, and an LS3 V8 swap to supply the power makes for one very tasteful and effortlessly powerful S13. And what better way to test the limits of your freshly built and swapped car than with a 2400 mile road trip?